Open Gym

Have Fun During Open Gym

Open Gym is only accessible to clients on therapy services and to one caregiver per child to maintain a safe controlled environment. Other accompanying caregivers or siblings please remain in the lobby or offsite. If your child, you or siblings are showing any signs of illness please remain at home. Please remember to thoroughly wash hands before and after using the gym, thank you.

Open gym is available at certain times of the day as a resourceful community environment for social interactions while using various therapeutic equipment and activities. Children are encouraged to use the gym to reinforce skills with a parent or caregiver on their own time. Whether it’s practicing motor skills learned in therapy or just needing a place for sensory input, open gym will allow for exploration and brain development. InGym™ has a dynamic parkour obstacle course area, traditional occupational therapy equipment, sensory/fine motor enhancement dome, rolling wheels area, ball skills turf area and climbing wall.

Rules of Open Gym:

Open Gym is by reservation and only for children enrolled with InGym™ therapy services
Waiver must be completed prior to arrival
Children must be supervised by an adult (parent, aid, ABA) at all times in the therapy gym as well as bathroom
Children and adults must wash hands prior to using any equipment or supplies
Clean socks are a must for all sessions for adults and children, no bare feet if possible
If your child is showing any signs of illness, please keep them at home
InGym Therapists treating their client during open gym have first priority to use any equipment
Please practice good parenting skills. If child is having a frustrating day please step outside until child is calm and regulated. Offer child choice to come back or a different setting. InGym would like to reinforce positive behaviors and parenting skills.

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CampIN 2025

April 30, 2025

We are gearing up for CampIN! CampIN is on of our unique programs that encourages each kid to work on their own skills needed to engage in different leisure sports. Each week will focus on a different leisure sports theme. This years themes include: ✔️SkateIN - skateboarding ✔️Ninja skills - martial arts ✔️Backyard Ball Bash - backyard games such as badminton ✔️KickIn It - soccer ✔️ DribbleIN - basketball ✔️GrandslamIN - baseball During CampIN OT skills are broken down step by step to enhance: gross motor, fine motor coordination, visual motor skills, body awareness and executive function skills. During Leisure Skills CampIN; Sensory needs will be acknowledged with the equipment available, as well as interaction with your child and their peers. We will meet them at their level and create the just right challenge to promote functional growth mindset!

Touch:

February 20, 2025

A Powerful Sensory Tool in Regulating the Nervous System & Strengthening the Parent-Child Relationship One sensory tool that helps strengthen the parent-child relationship and holds regulating abilities is touch. In the Bay Area, where our children and adults are overscheduled and met with high expectations, it is hard to carve out time for healthy positive forms of touch. However, touch from a loved one is an important part of development! This sense has a direct connection with our emotional wellbeing and calm centers of the brain for learning. When a loved one, such as a parent, provides loving, positive touch, the receptors send signals down two pathways in the brain:

Strategies to Set Boundaries with Your Neurodiverse Child

January 27, 2025

Setting boundaries are an important way to establish expectations and create a sense of security in the day to day for your child. Boundaries teach children how to regulate their emotions and equip them in navigating social situations. They teach our children to respect both themselves and others. However, setting boundaries is not an easy task! It requires a degree of finesse that takes practice — especially with your loved ones and children with diverse abilities. However, the outcomes are are worth it: they instill confidence and increase independence in children. Here are several strategies to set boundaries with a child who is nuerodiverse: Use concrete, visual language that is clear for children. For example, if you want your child to stop you may incorporate "red light, green light, yellow light" language to slow down their bodies. Offer options to a child: For example, you may tell your child you can have a healthy snack now or wait until lunch time. It is okay to state "I will not let you have candy for snack, but you can have a fruit pouch or cheese." Use a visual schedule to set expectations with routines/ new schedules. Connect with your child. If your child is feeling dysregulated or having a meltdown when you set an expectation, validate that big emotion and give them an opportunity to feel that big emotion. We want our children to know that all feelings are normal. Offering comfort in close proximity (i.e. getting to eye level with your child) and modeling calm a calm, empathetic voice can influence hormones and decrease distress to return to their activity. Focus on what you want your child to do. Instead of telling your child "do not run in the hallway," tell them, "can we walk like an elephant in the hallway?" Make it fun and playful! Focus on what you want your child to do part II. Neurodiverse children thrive with setting visual expectations and sometimes do not enjoy being told what to do. Model the behavior you want for your child without words. Challenge yourself, the parent or caregiver to ask yourself if the boundary is worth it! Choose your battles and question why the boundary is in place. If a child wants to take home an item from InGym, can we practice "borrowing and returning" the item to InGym since that is a skill we develop with friends? Challenge your parenting lens daily to ask, how will this support my child's growth as they continue towards adulthood. Boundaries are important skills to learn to support social participation and play skills as children grow!

SkateIN and Ninja Skills Return in Fall

August 7, 2024

Created and Maintained By Bay Area VPA

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